Starting Thursday, you can no longer bring in camp firewood from out of state.

The State of New Hampshire is beginning the quarantine of out-of-state firewood to control the spread of invasive forest pests.

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New Hampshire Forest Entomologist Kyle Lombard said people bring firewood into the state for campfires and unintentionally help the spread of disease in living trees.

“It’s surprising how much and how far people are willing to transport firewood. We surveyed firewood use at campgrounds and found that 40 percent of the out-of state campers brought it from home. Many of those folks were from as far away as Florida, North Carolina, and California. We have seen that every stick of firewood taken from these campers had insects, to the tune of about 30 per piece.”

A joint state-federal regulation implemented two years ago restricted firewood movement on state reservation lands and national forest lands within New Hampshire, including their respective campgrounds.

The new quarantine expands upon these earlier restrictions to prohibit out-of-statefirewood movement to all lands in New Hampshire.

Under the new regulations, only approved heat-treated firewood or firewood transported with a compliance agreement may enter New Hampshire.

Violators of the quarantine are subject to confiscation of their firewood and a fine.

“The health of our trees and forests are linked to the health of our state; socially,economically, and environmentally,” said New Hampshire State Forester Brad Simpkins. “We must all share the responsibility to protect this wonderful resource for ours and future generations.”

“It is our sincere hope that people will want to do the right thing and enforcement actions will be few and far between. However, we stand ready to take legal action when necessary; too much is at risk.”

Many harmful exotic invasive forest pests have gained entry into North American forests during the past 20 years through people moving goods and plant material, including firewood.

Two major forest pests include the Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer, neither of which is known to occur in New Hampshire.

The ALB has no known natural control and has spread to four northern states due to human activities. The beetle infests a wide variety of hardwood trees and threaten local forests and industries.

In 2008, an established ALB infestation was detected in Worcester, Mass.

The EAB has killed an estimated 25 million ash trees across 15 states and two Canadian provinces so far. It was first detected in the Detroit area in 2002. About 75 percent of known EAB infestations have been attributed to camp firewood.

More than half of all forests in New Hampshire are composed of susceptible host trees for ALB and EAB.

Executive Director at New Hampshire Campground Owners’ Association Gregg Pitman said he sees this as an opportunity to educate campers and enlist public support.

“Campers are part of the solution to this. They need to take responsibility to stop the spread of invasive pests, especially if they love camping in New Hampshire. It’s not about selling firewood. It’s about protecting our forests.”